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“The Footsteps I Follow: Top 10 Authors I Admire”

This is pretty much an impossible list to make, as there are so many amazing and
inspirational authors. I do want to say that I excluded J.K. Rowling because I just can’t say that I admire her. I do, however, want to mention that her writing did influence and impact me (after all, who wasn’t impacted by Harry Potter?). The list below is not in any necessary order.

1. Robin Hobb: Ever since I opened Assassin’s Apprentice, I’ve been in love with Hobb’s writing. Not only is her prose beautiful, but the way she crafts characters is just impeccable. To me, stories are about the characters. Of course, it’s important to have a good story, but the characters are what makes it special. I know many people things her books tend to be slow, and they are. But with each scene, she adds another layer of emotion and makes us care more and more about these characters and their relationships with each other. It’s certainly a skill I greatly admire.

2. Mark Lawrence: He made me fall in love with the shades of grey. He’s shown me
how you can create a protagonist who is deeply flawed or just down-right violent
and otherwise extremely unlikable and still make the reader root for them to win. It’s not easy to pull something like that off.

3. J. R. R. Tolkien: I can’t possibly have a list of authors I admire and not include the Godfather of fantasy. He’s influenced and inspired so many authors, myself included. He’s built such an amazing world with many great characters and stories that impact a lot of people. I hope to one day own all of his books. I’m still definitely a ways off from that goal. I currently just have the LoTR trilogy and the Hobbit on my shelves.

4. Carry Slee: She’s a Dutch author—a very successful one at that. She writes middle-grade novels, so she’s one of the first authors I truly read. She wrote books for teenagers about important themes like bullying, drugs, eating disorders, parental abuse, and so much more. I think that truly impacted me in that stories can be more than just entertaining: they can help us experience the lives of different people. See what they see, feel what they feel; we can have experiences we’d never have otherwise. They broaden our horizons and help us make sense of the world. Most importantly: they give us a better understanding of other people.

5. R. L. Stine: I practically devoured the Fear Street books when I was younger. Every time we went to the library, it was the first section I’d go to, hoping they would have one that I hadn’t read yet. I think just the fact that he can make so many teens so addicted to his books is enough to admire him. But he also wrote so many of them!

6. Camilla Läckberg: I love crime novels and have certainly read a lot of them from many different authors. But I’ve especially loved Camilla’s books that follow the journey of Patrik and Erica. The way she weaves in the past with the present has always fascinated me.

7. Brandon Sanderson: I must admit I haven’t read many of his books (in my defense, they’re pretty big), but even so, he’s someone I absolutely admire. Not just for his writing craft but also for his generosity toward other writers. He gives so much advice for free. I think it’s such a great thing when more experienced writers help other writers succeed. He also has great engagement with his readers, I feel. And he’s pretty funny.

8. Leigh Bardugo: She’s a kickass writer. She has managed to build such an amazing world with her Grishaverse novels with many amazing characters. I think there’s a good reason why people are so invested in her stories and fall in love with the world and the characters she created. I personally also loved Ninth House, her adult novel. She’s not afraid to go dark, take some risks, and talk about issues most people don’t like to talk about.

9. Jay Kristoff: I haven’t read all his books, but the Nevernight trilogy really struck a chord with me. He doesn’t just write great characters, an interesting world, and a compelling story, but he also isn’t afraid to play with the narrative device. I think the way he wrote that trilogy was very creative, especially when it became a part of the plot as well.

10. Susan Collins: Who wasn’t affected by the Hunger Games? Writing in the first person and present tense isn’t very common in fantasy and sci-fi. First-person has become more common now, but present tense not so much. And yet, it really gives that sense of immediacy, which I do believe adds to the tension in the story. Besides that, she wrote an impeccable trilogy with a kickass female heroine, so what’s not to admire?